The Promise
by ladia2287
Summary: Isla is a muggle with absolutely no connection to the Wizarding World. Or so she thought, until she found herself in a dangerous game of wits against a cruel and heartless man. A man who turned out to be a wizard, and a Death Eater... My first one-shot!


_Isla is a muggle with absolutely no connection to the Wizarding World. Or so she thought, until she found herself in a dangerous game of wits against a cruel and heartless man. A man who turned out to be a wizard, and a Death Eater..._

* * *

**The Promise**

_You took my heart; deceived me right from the start  
You showed me dreams; I wished they'd turn into real  
You broke the promise, and made me realise  
It was all just a lie...  
**Angels, by Within Temptation**_

* * *

All I wanted was to meet my friends and have a good time. Is that really so much to ask? But no, instead, I get thrown into this mess, and I have no way of knowing if I'll get out of it alive. I don't even know why they want me. When he first pointed that stick in my face, I thought he was just playing about like always. It didn't take me long to realise what was really going on, though. Bastard. I trusted him. I mean, if you can't trust your friends, who can you trust. I guess no one, in my case.

* * *

"Ready to start talking yet?" he asked. He said it in a way that suggested this was a game, but not the sort where there was much chance of me winning.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I replied coldly. I avoided looking at him, deciding that the marble floor would be a better focus for my attention than those grey-blue eyes. Eyes that seemed to burn right through me.

"Don't you dare test my patience, bitch!" I could tell he was starting to get angry. Good, I thought. Because he'd made me mad enough to want to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze until he turned blue. Strangely enough, I wasn't bound, but I seemed completely incapable of moving a single muscle. No doubt he did something to me, in order to make that happen.

"My name isn't bitch, it's Isla," I mumbled. I knew he could hear me, but I didn't particularly care. He was probably going to kill me, anyway. What did it matter whether I angered him enough to do it sooner?

"Shut up!" he yelled, pointing that stick in my face again. I closed my lips tightly. I was seething with rage. How dare he treat me like this! He walked closer to me, until his feet were directly in front of mine, and then I felt his hand on my lower jaw, forcing my head up. Great, now I had no choice but to look at him. His eyes bore right into mine, and he was frowning. As though he was trying his hardest to concentrate on something. And then, for some strange reason, I started thinking about something that had happened when I was a kid. I couldn't have been any older than nine or ten at the time, and I scarcely remember it, but somehow I was remembering it now in such clear detail that it was almost as though it had only happened yesterday.

_"Dudley, come on, leave him alone for once," I whined. Dudley Dursley snickered, but he and his friends turned and walked away, revealing a small boy with broken glasses and wearing clothes that must have been at least three sizes too big for him._

_"Thanks," he muttered ungratefully. I stomped my foot to get his attention._

_"Well, if you're going to be rude about it, I won't bother next time," I retorted. The boy looked up at me._

_"Why do you bother now?" he demanded. I could feel my cheeks turning slightly pink._

_"Because, well, Dudley and his friends are always really mean to you, and you never do anything to deserve it," I explained._

_"I live on the same planet as him. By his definition, that means I do deserve it," he pointed out. I sat next to him._

_"Harry, don't you think you should tell your aunt and uncle that he's doing this?" I asked. He scoffed loudly._

_"They wouldn't care. They'd probably celebrate," he answered gruffly._

I still don't know why I did what I did next, but it's the one part of that conversation that has been etched into my memory ever since. I'll probably continue to remember it vividly for the rest of my life. Which might not be very long, anyway.

_"Maybe I could make you feel better instead?" I suggested. He gave me a strange look._

_"How?" he asked sceptically. Before I even knew what I was doing, I leaned over and planted a quick kiss on his cheek, before bouncing to my feet and skipping away._

Bizarre, how things can happen. Why on Earth did I start thinking about that? He was still staring at me, but this time he wasn't frowning. No, there was a cruel grin starting to spread across his face.

Wait, he couldn't have... that's _impossible_! There's no way he could have seen it, too. Mind reading is a fantasy; a fairy tale. It's something people wish for even though they know it can't possibly happen.

"Not quite what I was hoping for, but never mind. The Dark Lord will be pleased," he murmured. I shivered at the sound of his voice.

"Bastard," I muttered. He slapped me.

"You really ought to learn some manners," he stated quietly. "Perhaps I should teach you, before the Dark Lord arrives."

"I'm not afraid of you, Draco," I retorted defiantly. He laughed.

"Yet," he answered simply. "It doesn't matter, anyway. Because believe me, when you set eyes on the Dark Lord, you _will_ be afraid. I guarantee it."

I closed my eyes. I couldn't help but remember how our friendship had started out so innocently. Two people, having a good time, who had started up a conversation. I said something really stupid. I can't even remember what it was, but he seemed to find it really funny, because he started laughing. A real laugh, not the sadistic, cold sound that was coming out of his mouth now. Before ten minutes had passed, we had exchanged names and numbers. And all of it had led to...

"Are you even listening to me?" he demanded angrily.

"No," I replied truthfully. I had grown weary of hearing his voice, so I blocked it out as best I could. He slapped me again. My cheek was starting to sting quite painfully, but I resisted the urge to cry. I couldn't let him see me cry; that would be giving him exactly what he wanted. I opened my eyes and saw that he had knelt in front of me. He was still staring intently at me. I glared at him, before looking away. I wasn't going to let him read my mind again if I could help it. He smirked and lifted his arm to reach out for me. I squirmed as he traced his finger slowly up my arm and along my collarbone.

"Don't you dare touch me!" I screamed. "You have no bloody right to touch me like that!"

"Actually, I have _every_ right, Isla. You yourself said so," he muttered.

"That was before you bloody kidnapped me and threatened to kill me if I tried to escape!" I retorted. The smirk was gone. The expression on his face now was dangerously calm. His face was inches away from my own. He backed up a few paces, glaring at me all the while.

"You make it sound as though it came as a shock to you, Isla," he murmured at last, grinning.

"You've been using me this whole time, and you honestly think I shouldn't be upset?" I asked angrily. "You bloody bastard!"

Another slap on my face. Then he pulled me roughly to my feet.

"We'll see how long you stay defiant, Isla," he murmured in my ear. "What do you say we pay your little friend a _visit_, and see whether he remembers you?"

I was absolutely mortified. Something told me this suggestion was definitely _not_ a good thing. Before I even knew what was happening, I was standing in the middle of a vaguely familiar street. One of his hands held mine firmly behind my back. The other pointed that stick at my throat. I struggled to get out of his grip, but to no avail. And then I recognised the house in front of us, and my heart sank.

Number Four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging. Dudley Dursley's house. Where he had grown up with his parents, and his cousin...

"Potter! Get out here now! I have a surprise for you!" His voice was deafeningly loud. And it was with horror and sheer terror that I saw the boy come out of the house, looking surprised and angry.

"What the Hell is going on, Malfoy!" he yelled. He started to walk towards us.

"Not so fast Potter! You'll stay right where you are, or this little tramp will get it!" Draco's words hit me in the gut. The other boy stopped.

"Don't listen to him! He's going to kill me anyway! If you obey him, it'll give him a perfect chance to kill you too!" I shouted desperately. He hesitated, but, thankfully, heeded my plea.

"Not concerned with saving the life of your first _girlfriend_, then?" Draco taunted loudly.

"Stop it, Draco! I was ten years old, for goodness sake!" I spat. Unfortunately, Draco's taunting seemed to have served its purpose, because the other boy had stopped again.

"What the Hell? For God's sake, Malfoy, can't you see she's a _muggle_?" he yelled furiously. "This has nothing to do with her!"

"The Hell it doesn't! Don't you recognise this pretty little face? Your first _kiss_?"

I wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear at that point. The other boy was furrowing his brow, clearly confused.

"Why can't you just kill me, and get it over with?" I muttered angrily.

"All in good time, Isla."

The other boy finally seemed to have realised who I was, and why I was there. And I could tell he was absolutely mortified.

"Isla? Isla Fisher?" he asked fretfully, then turned on Draco. "You bastard Malfoy! You let her go right now, or I'll..."

"What? Go running to Dumbledore? The Order? The Ministry?" Draco taunted. "In case you've forgotten, Potter, Dumbledore's dead, your pathetic Order can't meet any more because of it, and we've seized control of the Ministry, so they wouldn't help you even if they were capable of it."

I wanted so badly to wipe that sneer off his arrogant, cruel face. So I did the only thing I could think of. I raised my foot and kicked behind me, making sure my stiletto heel made sharp contact with his groin. It had the desired result; he let go of me and doubled over in pain. And I raced straight into the other boy's waiting arms. He held me close. I could feel his body shaking with absolute rage as Draco, finally, managed to stand upright again.

"If you _ever_," Harry started furiously, "even _think_ about hurting her again, it will be the last thing you ever do."

Draco smirked again. "Is that a threat, Potter?" he asked, leering.

Harry scowled. "No, it's a promise."

* * *

**Thanks for reading guys. So anyways, one rainy afternoon I was pretty bored, so I pulled out my iPod and started listening to a couple of Within Temptation songs (I hadn't played them for a while), and for some still hitherto unknown reason, the idea behind this fic popped into my head. Well, I had nothing better to do, really, so I typed it up, and the result seems passable, so I decided to post it. I had half a thought to either write a sequel or extend this into a proper fic, but I can't decide whether it would be worth the effort, and that is where you, the reader, come in. I've put a poll up on my profile page, which I will basically keep open for as long as I can be bothered. So head over there, get your votes in, and why not check out a couple of my other fics, while you're at it? (sorry, I couldn't help myself; I can be a bit cocky sometimes) :P**


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